The Love of Camelot
by Ginger-Holmes-Jones
Summary: Merthur One-Shot. Arthur is an even bigger prat when he's ill, luckily his manservant knows exactly how to deal with him. Non-graphic fluff.


Hello :) This is the first chapter in my latest FanFiction (obviously). I just had to write some fluffy Merthur before the feels from tonight's episode killed me. I hope this makes you feel better too. Be strong Merlinians! Long Live Merlin! Yeah. Enjoy.

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Prompt: Merlin/Arthur – One of them is ill

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DETAILS: Just shameless fluff with a brief account of kissing.

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Merlin entered the King's chambers with a grin. "Good Morning Sire."

"Merlin..." Came the strained response.

The Warlock continued regardless. "Come on you lazy prat, get up." He pulled the curtains open with a flourish and turned around, finally looking towards Arthur. The King in question could barely be seen from under the blankets, a small gap in the covers revealed his paled face peering out from within the material mountain – it would have been comical if not for the solemn and tired look on his face.

"Merlin..." He whined again, shuffling up until he could appear out of the top of his bed.

The smile faded from Merlin's face as he took in the sight of Arthur, clearly in pain, and concern filled his eyes. "Arthur? Are you okay?" He asked, walking over to the man.

"Do I look okay?" Arthur retorted before coughing shakily. "I'm not okay, I feel awful."

Merlin crouched over by Arthur, gently sweeping the damp hair from his brow and pressing the back of his hand to it. "You've got a fever. Pale. Erm... want me to go and get Gaius?"

Arthur shook his head. "No, he'll make me stay in bed all day, and I have duties to attend to."

"If you're ill then you need to rest and th-" Merlin began but was interrupted by Arthur.

"No, just help me up." He instructed, groggily kicking away his covers; Merlin obeyed without protest and linked his arm under Arthur's to heave him up. Arthur wobbled to his feet slowly and stood with a dazed expression.

"Are you sure you want to get up?" Merlin asked as he placed his hands on Arthur's shoulders to steady him.

The blonde nodded his head distractedly. "Yes, yes, I'm..." Before he could get any further his eyes fluttered and he stumbled backwards, bouncing back down onto the bed.

"I'm getting Gaius!" Merlin announced, swivelling around and running out of the chambers. Arthur opened his mouth to protest but found only a squeak came out, he rolled his eyes.

_Clotpole_.

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When Arthur next awoke, Gaius was looming over him.

"Sire? Can you hear me?" His voice echoed through Arthur's clouded thoughts.

"Mm? Yeah... fine." He mumbled in response.

A familiar smile appeared over Gaius' shoulder. "No he is not, he passed out and didn't even call me turniphead once."

The King groaned. "Shut up Merlin."

Gaius continued. "Sire, I've administered a treatment that should help you recover, it will take the rest of the day at least though I'm afraid. I shall inform the court of your ill health, do not worry over your duties, I shall ensure that they understand that this could develop into a more serious illness if we do not treat it now."

Arthur sighed. "Okay, thank you Gaius."

The Physician bowed before leaving the chambers; the Manservant and King remaining inside.

"You went and got Gaius against my orders." Arthur stated.

"Yeah, I did." Merlin nodded, a smile forming on his face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "I could have you arrested for disobeying my orders."

Merlin laughed. "Then who would look after you though?"

"_You're_ going to look after _me_?" Arthur smirked in disbelief. "It's usually the other way around."

_Ha! _Merlin thought to himself as he poured Arthur a cup of water and set it on his bedside table.

An awkward silence fell over the two as Arthur sipped his water and settled back down into his pillows.

"Merlin, just because I'm ill doesn't mean my armour is going to polish itself." He eventually spoke up.

"I'll get to it later." Merlin moaned "For now I'm just going to watch you, it's very important that I do."

Arthur paused. "Why?"

"Well..." Merlin fidgeted uncomfortable under the King's gaze. "Gaius kind of mentioned that you might get a bit," at this he hesitated and pursed his lips in thought "delusional."

"Delusional?!" Arthur's voice rose "Great, so not only do I have to be in pain all day, I also get to become insane!"

Merlin's lips twitched into a smile. "Don't worry. I'm looking after you so you don't do anything too crazy."

"Brilliant..." he replied, but before he could make any other sort of comment his face flushed again, and he sunk down into his covers.

"Arthur?!" Merlin asked, panicked. The King groaned in his abrupt sleep, quivers consuming him and causing the Manservant to chew his nails from nervousness. "Arthur? Talk to me, please."

"Merlin no, don't," The sleeping man whimpered. "stop, it's too dangerous."

Merlin's eyebrows rose as he watched the man babble, uncertain of what to do. "Don't do what? What's dangerous?"

"The Knights..." He began again. "No!"

By this point Merlin was thoroughly unnerved, he tentatively reached out his hand and brushed his fingers through Arthur's hair. "Erm, it's okay Arthur, it's okay." He soothed in his most re-assuring voice. Much to his surprise, the sleep talk began to quieten. Encouraged, Merlin slowly ran his fingers through the hair continuously. "Everything's fine now, it's just you and me, there's no danger. The Knights are safe. Everyone is."

Arthur mumbled something inaudibly and nuzzled against Merlin's hand. The Warlock allowed himself a small smile, Arthur was undeniably cute – when he wasn't barking orders. Merlin allowed his thoughts to wander about the King.

_I know what he does is to protect Camelot, his actions are always with the best intentions. Like he said earlier, in his head he's always protecting me. I suppose he is. Even when he's ordering me around it's still nicer than how every other Noble treats their servant. He's very kind when it comes down to it, passionate too, caring – he just hides it all under this exterior that acts stronger to get respect. Idiot. He doesn't need to do that to get respect. He's just naturally very-_

Merlin's thoughts were cut short by a snuffling sound from the man under the blankets, his bright blue eyes flickered open hazily and locked onto Merlin's. "Merlin?"

Merlin felt a blush trail across his face as his hand stilled in Arthur's hair. He was about to pull his fingers away and tense for the onslaught of ridicule when Arthur piped up again.

"Merlin I'm cold, get in my bed."

Merlin looked at Arthur incredulously. _Did he just ask me into his bed? _He thought.

Arthur apparently got bored of waiting for an answer, so reached out and tugged the smaller man down under the covers. "Just stay here, I'm cold."

The blush Merlin felt earlier came back with a vengeance as he stuttered "Erm, Arthur, I can get you another blanket or something if you want instead."

"No, I want you, I trust you." Arthur mumbled as he wrapped his arms around the servant, pulling him flush against his body and snuggling his head into the dip in Merlin's neck.

"Oh... thank you?" Merlin flustered as he tried to think about the situation.

_Oh God if someone walks in I will be in so much trouble and when he wakes up he's going to be mad but he's so warm and his breath tickles my throat..._

Arthur began his mumbling again and Merlin snapped out of his thoughts, going back to caressing the King's hair soothingly. Much like before the mumbling stopped, allowing Arthur to drift off into a peaceful sleep; leaving Merlin curled in his arms with just one hand free with which to stroke his hair. This continued for a few minutes until Merlin's eyelids began to droop. He fought the sensation but could feel weariness setting in, the warmth from Arthur and the cosiness of the bed all combining to make an irresistible place to nap. So for the first time in a while, Merlin fell asleep completely content, with his fingers still entangled in the hair of Arthur.

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Arthur woke with a moan, his throat burned and his eyes stung, his whole body was screaming at him to just lay still and sleep and- he noticed something wasn't right. Forcing his eyes open, he was more than shocked to see what appeared to be a collarbone directly in front of him.

_Someone's in my bed... What?_

As he slowly shifted his body to get a better look he was stunned to see the sleeping form of his manservant, who was still sleeping. The dark light from outside had seeped through the window and was playing on his pale skin, bathing him in a deep red glow. His hair was ruffled messily and his lips were slightly parted, Arthur also realised that his arm was draped across him. As he wriggled his head up he felt fingers softly brush along his scalp and he realised that they too must belong to Merlin. His manservant suddenly began squirming too, his eyes scrunching up, before finally opening and adjusting to the surroundings. The pupils of his eyes dilated from the lighting and finally came to rest on Arthur's, who was gazing at him intently.

Merlin drew in a sharp breath. "Arthur..." He began.

"It's okay." Arthur muttered. "I vaguely remember pulling you in here."

Merlin smiled - relieved - but still fidgeted. "Still, sorry, I should probably, erm, go."

Arthur's brow crinkled. "Why? Stay."

Merlin smiled timidly. "...Okay."

Arthur grinned, containing his nerves, and pulled Merlin back into his embrace. "I haven't slept that well in years."

"Me neither." Merlin responded, cautiously returning his hand to its previous resting point in Arthur's hair.

Arthur sighed, thinking about what he was going to do when Merlin really did have to go. "Hey Merlin."

"Yeah?" He answered, looking up at him.

Arthur's reply was to press his lips to Merlin's, briefly, not wishing to force anything upon him. He was about to pull away when he felt his servant begin to kiss him back, slowly at first before gaining pressure; they developed a rhythm as their mouths slid together. Arthur pulled back for breath first and looked down at his friend (lover?), who looked back at him with wide pupils.

"Arthur Pendragon I think I love you." He murmured breathlessly.

"I should hope so," he replied, placing a kiss on Merlin's head "because I'm pretty confident I love you too."


End file.
